


A Thousand Thoughts

by JamieBenn



Category: 300 (2006), Classical Greece and Rome History & Literature RPF, Original Work
Genre: Ancient Greece, M/M, Persian Empire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-01 23:12:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4038190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamieBenn/pseuds/JamieBenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Athenian General Themistocles and Spartan King Leonidas were actually in love upon the commencement of the battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thousand Thoughts

I looked into his eyes, and I saw a thousand thoughts shining back at me. He was the most beautiful man that I had ever met, and he was the only man that I had ever loved. I had thought about the way that I was predicting another battle against the Persians, but I had not really given thought to the way that I would feel if Leonidas was put in harm’s way. I knew that he was a great leader, a great king, but I had not even given much thought to whether Leonidas would fall at the hands of the Persians when they came.

I had met Leonidas upon my first visit to Sparta. It was as glorious as my own city, but I only had eyes for the man that I saw there. I had met him whilst both of us were dressed in ceremonial clothing, but his was much better to look at. I could only imagine the muscles that lie beneath, and the way that they may feel beneath my fingers. I had greeted him with the warmest smile that I could muster, begging within me for a smile of his in return. He had accepted, bearing his teeth in the widest of grins, and I knew within that second that this was not lust that I felt. I felt love for this man.

I had seen the Spartan king again once he had his place as king. It was once I had ventured into the world of politics, as I yearned for a proper place in society. It was after Marathon, of course. It was after I had seen what the Persians could do to Greece. I had gone to Sparta angry that they had not sent their hoplites with the urgency that we needed, but I had left even more in love with Leonidas.

I had told myself, “Themistocles, why do you find yourself in love with a man who can never be with you?” After all, I had been raised a commoner, and had somehow risen to be a low level politician.

There was only one more time that I found myself in the presence of Leonidas. It was when he was visiting my city, Athens. He was there under official business, of course, but after he found out about my promotion to general, he had come to me and urged me into his bed. That was the first and last time that we ever slept together, but I remember it clearly. I remember the way that his facial hair felt on my skin. I remember the way that his calloused hands, calloused from holding a spear for days on end, felt against my cheek. I remember the way that his eyes looked at mine, the only thought shining back at me was the thought of me. It was then that I realised that I wished to never part with Leonidas for as long as I was to live. I wanted to go to Sparta with him, but I had duties to take care of. I had a navy to build.

It was not too long previously to my second to last encounter with Leonidas in Athens, that I decided Athens needed a stronger navy at all costs. I was sure that the Persians were going to try again, and that this time they would bring as many of their forces as they could, and that they were really going to try for what they wanted. They would want revenge for Marathon and the burning of the city of Sardis, and they would want the original land that they came for. I knew not of who would be ruling the army when they came, but they were sure to be held under the same rules of megalomania and imperialism that Darius came with before them.

And thus, I come to my last encounter with my dearest. I saw him, in his full battle dress as we prepared to begin our battles for freedom. Mine would be on the water, in and on the wooden walls of a boat, and yet his would be in the open air, with land beneath his feet, with spears and arrows attacking him from all directions. I knew that there was a more likely chance that I would survive this than he. He was a Spartan King, and he would definitely be at the front of the battle. This was probably going to be the last time that I would see him, I knew.

We could not kiss like I wished to, as there were other people around. Leonidas had told me that if someone was to find out then he would be the butt of the jokes all around Sparta. So the last time I saw my dearest was when he let out a sighing breath and whispered “Themistocles,” before our hands parted and my stare lingered on his back for far too long as he walked into the distance.


End file.
